


Guilt

by babygirl127



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Angst, Guilt, M/M, light turtlecest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 14:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12960864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babygirl127/pseuds/babygirl127
Summary: Raph’s reflection on what happened to Don when he was mutated by Bishop





	Guilt

Raph was tired. No, scratch that, he was exhausted The past few months had been more than trying just attempting to keep up with the number of mutants that had been infected by Bishop's virus. He and his brothers had been running themselves ragged attempting to keep the creatures from attacking the city that they had sworn to protect.

As hard as he, Leo, and Mikey had been working Don had been working twice as hard. Not only had he been out on the streets with the rest of them but he had also been working relentlessly with Leatherhead to try and find a cure for the animals that had been infected to return them to normal.

Raph's fists clenched in anger as he remembered. Don had spent so much time burning the candle at both ends that none of them had thought twice about him looking tired and worn down. Raph's hated himself for that. As Don's mate he should have seen the signs before anyone else and done something about it.

Not only did Raph blame himself for Don getting infected in the first place since the genius had been defending him when he got stabbed but Raph also blamed himself for not seeing that there was something more wrong than just a simple cold. It had always been his self appointed job to look out for his brothers and he had failed so badly with Don these past few months. That was completely unacceptable to the emerald green turtle.

Standing in the doorway to the lab now Raph could see the remembered image of his brother sitting at the desk bent over some new specimen trying desperately to figure out what it was that was causing the creatures to mutate into mindless monsters. Every sniffle and cough came back to Raph along with how little he had done to help. A few tissues and a bowl of soup were nothing compared to everything Don had to go through.

Even after he had realized how much he had screwed up there wasn't much that he had been able to do to make it up to Donatello himself. By that time it was too late to stop the second mutation and even if there had been something he could have done he had been half way across the city after passing Don off to their friend just because he had gotten sick. Instead of doing something useful he had helped to stuff his brother into a cage like an animal.

Just the thought of that made Raph snarl in anger. They may have been mutated from turtles but they certainly weren't just animals anymore. Seeing his gentle and loving mate turned into a vicious monster that didn't recognize his own family and would tear them apart as soon as look at them broke Raph's heart. If anyone should be turned into something like that it should be him not gentle and sweet Donnie.

Leaving Don in Bishop's hands had been one of the hardest things that Raph had ever done in his life but it was the only way that any of them had seen that they could do as Bishop had wanted in order to get their brother the help that he so desperately needed. That didn’t mean that it didn’t tear Raph apart inside every moment he was apart from his hurting mate.

When Don had finally been cured and had been released from the container that been imprisoning him Raph had felt a wave of thankfulness. That was until Don had fallen lifelessly into Leatherhead's arm. A sharp spike of fear had gone through Raph then until he could see for himself that Don was still alive and breathing. He had come far too close to losing Don forever and that fear would normally have manifested itself as rage if he hadn't been more concerned at the time of getting Don home where he would finally be safe.

Taking a deep breath to get his rising anger back under control Raph left his spot at the entrance to the lab and made his way slowly up to his room. Each step seemed to take an effort of will as his body's fatigue and the weight of the residual guilt dragged him down.

When he reached his room Raph opened the door quietly so as not to disturb the figure sleeping soundly in his hammock. Seeing Don sleeping peacefully went a good way to easing the ache in Raph's heart as he walked into the room and closed the door behind himself. While Raph undressed and set his gear aside making use to place his sais in the table next to the hammock where he could quickly and easily reach them, Don never so much as twitched.

The depth of Don's sleep brought a small frown to Raph's lips. Normally Don was a very light sleeper waking at the smallest change in his environment. Only when he had pushed his body to the breaking point did he sleep this deeply. That more than anything else at that moment told Raph just how much Don had gone through.

Carefully so as not to disturb the sleeping turtle Raph climbed into the hammock behind Don and wrapped his muscular arms around his mate's waist pulling him close. Now that Don was cured of the outbreak virus Raph was going to make sure that he didn't wear himself out again and made a total recovery.

Never again did Raph want to see Don as worn down and nearly lifeless as he had been when he had been sick. He never wanted to see the monster that Don had been turned into. Silently Raph made a promise that as long as he was around nothing was ever going to hurt Don ever again.

Leaning forward Raph placed a tender kiss on the back of Don's head sealing his silent promise. Don sighed quietly in his sleep and instinctively snuggled closer to Raph who was only too happy to hold him tighter. Nothing was ever going to take Don from his arms ever again.


End file.
